PRESIDENT OBAMA / JOB PLAN: ABC News’ Amy Walter: “ Analysis: An ‘Urgent’ Obama Tries To Rally Congress Behind Him” Although President Obama urged the assembled members of Congress to “stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy,” there were plenty of times during tonight’s speech that the President sounded like he was campaigning. In an attempt to try and stay above the partisan fray and appeal to independent swing voters the President started his address tonight by focusing on what the two parties shared in common. LINK

The Hills’ Sam Youngman: “ Obama unveils $447B jobs bill” With both the economy and his reelection hopes teetering, President Obama on Thursday proposed a $447 billion jobs bill that he and his aides said will immediately put people back to work. More than half of the new jobs package consists of tax cuts designed to encourage small-business growth and hiring. The White House said it would put about $1,500 in the pockets of an average family by cutting the employee payroll tax in half in 2012. LINK

USA Today’s Susan Page: “ Analysis: Among the jobs Obama hopes to save is his own” Among the jobs President Obama hopes to save with Thursday night’s proposals to a Joint Session of Congress is his own. There are no guarantees that the $447 billion American Jobs Act will be enacted, or that it would significantly reduce unemployment if it were. But the package of payroll tax relief, extended jobless benefits, and funding to repair schools, fix roads and keep teachers working at the minimum gives Obama a plan to extol — and to batter a “do nothing” Congress with if it fails to act. LINK

The New York Daily News’ Alison Gendar and Thomas M. Defrank: “ President Obama tells divided Congress to halt ‘political circus’ and pass American Jobs Act” President Obama exhorted a bitterly-divided Congress on Thursday to halt the “political circus” and help suffering Americans by jumpstarting the sputtering economy. With his political survival and leadership cred hanging in the balance, Obama told a joint session of lawmakers “you should pass right away” his American Jobs Act, which he’ll send to Capitol Hill next week. LINK

The Los Angeles Times’ Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons: “ Obama pitches $447-billion jobs plan” President Obama rolled out a new jobs plan Thursday designed to quickly provide $447 billion through a mix of tax cuts, construction projects and unemployment relief — an ambitious move meant to jolt the slumbering economy and answer skeptics who say he’s been too complacent about the hardships borne by millions of unemployed. Though he spoke to a national television audience, Obama aimed his remarks squarely at Republican lawmakers arrayed before him in the House chamber. LINK

The New York Times’ Mark Landler: “ Obama Challenges Congress on Job Plan” Mixing politically moderate proposals with a punchy tone, President Obama challenged lawmakers on Thursday to “pass this jobs bill” — a blunt call on Congress to enact his $447 billion package of tax cuts and new government spending, designed to revive a stalling economy and his own political standing. LINK

The Washington Post’s Zachary Goldfarb: “ Obama announces $447 billion plan to boost economy” President Obama made an impassioned appeal on Thursday night for $447 billion in tax cuts and government spending to boost the nation’s lagging economic recovery, calling on lawmakers to put politics aside and work together to solve the jobs crisis. LINK

GOP: The Washington Times’ Seth McLaughlin: “ Trying new pitch, Romney stirs old core-belief doubts” Already dogged by a reputation for political shifts on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney is once again honing a new sales pitch to voters, with the former Massachusetts governor now casting himself as a real-world “conservative businessman” who is in sync with the tea party while eager to slap sense into the “career politicians” he blames for the nation’s problems. LINK

Politico’s Jonathan Martin: “ Struggling Jon Huntsman reorganizing” Jim McCray and Monica Notzon, two Washington-based fundraising consultants for Huntsman, are parting ways with the campaign, according to GOP sources. Ann Herberger, a longtime fundraiser in Florida who had been working for Tim Pawlenty, is joining the campaign as the finance director. Also coming on board to work as a senior communications adviser is Ben Porritt, a press hand who worked for John McCain and George W. Bush. LINK

OTHER: The Wall Street Journal’s Corey Boles: “ Senate Approves $500 Billion Increase in Borrowing Authority” The U.S. Senate, in an unusual procedure, cleared the way Thursday for the U.S. to lift its borrowing authority by $500 billion to $15.19 trillion, enough to keep the support federal government borrowing through late January or early February. LINK